Are you getting Pinned on the 15th most popular site in the US?

If you’re a heavy Pinterest user, you’ll probably want to skip to the bottom where I have some links for more advanced study. If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about this thing called Pinterest, or what the heck Pinterest is in the first place, come right this way…

Pinterest is a social sharing site that’s been around for a little over two years. In that short span of time, it has become the 15th most popular website in America. That puts it right above ESPN and right below Bing, as I write this. (Alexa updates these rankings daily.)

So, how can such a popular website be so unknown to so many people? Take one glance at the site and you’re sure to see fashion tips, attractive men, and something baby-related. As a man, I’ve found it hard to engage with because of this. I feel out of place there.

But, I shouldn’t. There are plenty of more gender neutral or even male-oriented posts on there. They just aren’t in the majority, so they don’t show up much on the home page.

And, you shouldn’t avoid it because you don’t feel like you fit the demographic, either. The fact is Pinterest is generating tons of traffic and buzz. I suspect the user base will become more diverse over time.

Enough introduction. Here’s how it works:

It’s a place to share links from around the web.

You can log in with a Facebook account. (or not.)

You “pin” interesting things you find around the web.

You create “boards” to organize your pins.

Each item that gets pinned comes with a big image taken from the site it originated from.

You can comment on pins or “repin” them to share with others.

You can follow people or boards to be updated when new items are pinned.

It’s like a visual guide to interesting content on the web. Simple. Yet it’s still kind of overwhelming.

You’ve just got to dive in and use it a bit. When you first sign up it will help you find some things to follow for starters. Then, I’d suggest doing some searches for things you like — and follow some of the boards you find.

If you’re a Facebook user, you’ll probably find that some of your friends are already on Pinterest. Follow them there and see how they use it.

Keep an eye out for pins that get lots of repins, likes and comments. The more of those, the more traffic heads to the site that was pinned.

Obviously it’s very visual. You’re never going to get your blog posts to be popular on Pinterest if you don’t have good images in them. You should already be on top of this, though. Facebook uses the images on pages that get shared to help grab attention too.

Of course, you don’t want to just sign up and just pin things from your own website. Remember, it’s social. Pin things from all over the web, and try to stay focused on things that would interest your target market. Pin your own content in such a way that it fits in with the other things you’re pinning.

Ready to get more in-depth? Already know the basics and totally bored by this newsletter? Check these out: